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Amnesty International is concerned about the hundreds of political prisoners, many of whom are prisoners of conscience, still held in Iran and is launching a one-year campaign to highlight their plight. The individuals featured below illustrate the ever-expanding circle of repression in Iran.

Shiva Nazar Ahari, a journalist, blogger and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), was arrested with two other CHRR members on 20 December 2009, her second arrest since the election. Amnesty International calls for her immediate and unconditional release.Read more...

Mohammad Amin Valian, a 20-year-old Damghan University student active in the Islamic Association, was arrested following his participation in a mass protect against the disputed June election result and the ensuing repression. Initially sentenced to death, this was commuted to a three-year prison sentence. Amnesty International has called for an urgent review of his conviction.Read more...

Ahmad Zeidabadi is a journalist for Roozonline, an online publication based in Belgium, and spokesperson for the Graduates’ Association. Arrested just after the election, he is serving a six-year prison sentence in Raja’i Shahr prison, near Tehran. Amnesty International has called for his release and a thorough investigation into reports that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated.Read more...

Student leader Majid Tavakkoli was beaten and arrested on 7 December 2009 while leaving Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran. He had just spoken at a peaceful rally marking Student Day. The demonstration was part of anti-government protests that followed the disputed presidential election of June 2009. Amnesty International has called for his immediate and unconditional release from his eight and a half year sentence.Read more...

Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, a 28-year-old freelance journalist and human rights activist, is a prisoner of conscience held in Evin Prison, Tehran. He is serving an 11-year sentence imposed for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association. He is also facing further unknown charges.Read more...Hengameh Shahidi, aged about 35, is a journalist and political activist who is currently serving a six-year sentence in Evin Prison, Tehran. Amnesty International has called for her release and an investigation into her allegations of torture in detention.Read more...

Sayed Ziaoddin (Zia) Nabavi, aged about 27, is a member of the Council to Defend the Right to Education. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, reduced to 10 years on appeal. Apparently held solely for the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association and because he is a relative of members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Amnesty International is also calling for his immediate and unconditional release.Read more...

Prominent Iranian Journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi was arrested on December 28, 2009, the day after massive protests were held in Tehran and other cities to mark the Shi'a religious observance of Ashoura. His arrest followed the broadcasting of his two-year-old interview with cleric Ayatollah Montazeri, to mark the cleric's death earlier that month. Although he has been detained for several months, Emadeddin Baghi is not known to have been charged with a crime.Read more...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected with 63 per cent of the vote on 12 June 2009. Everything was planned in advance except for a wave of demonstrations that was without precedent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The streets of the main cities were filled with people chanting “What happened to my vote?” and “Liar.”The authorities responded with a vast operation to silence the political protests, using a skilfully devised repressive strategy, the stages of which Reporters Without Borders will now try to describe.By disrupting the means of communication and relentlessly controlling the dissemination of photos and video footage, the authorities sought to undermine the demonstrations and prevent the opposition from reinforcing its cohesion and popular legitimacy.The Revolutionary Guards ensured that opposition leaders were denied access to the media by closing newspapers and arresting journalists. Cut off from any international support once the foreign correspondents had been expelled, the opposition then had to face a war of attrition by the regime.Imprisoned, tortured, charged vast bail amounts that drove families deep into debt, subjected to social and professional exclusion and hounded into exile – en entire profession of journalists, political observers and social activists that had developed in recent years, an essential part of the country’s intellectual life, has been eradicated by the regime.FiguresAt least 170 journalists and bloggers, including 32 women, have been arrested in the past year. - 22 of them have sentenced to jail terms totalling 135 years.85 journalists are awaiting trial or sentencing.

The amounts of bail that have been paid to obtain release total about 4 million euros (5.23 billion toman).

More than 100 journalists have been forced to flee the country.

23 newspapers have been shut down and thousands of web pages have been blocked.

With 37 journalists and bloggers currently held, Iran is one of the world’s four biggest prisons for the media, alongside Cuba, Eritrea and North Korea.Elections result announcedThe authorities imposed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the first round by force. Tehran prosecutor general Said Mortazavi sent the pro-opposition newspapers a note on the evening of 11 June 2009 warning them not to print front pages proclaiming their candidate’s victory. But the state-owned media reported nothing but President Ahmadinejad’s victory. Four of the leading reformist newspapers were prevented from criticising the official results or were closed down altogether. Distribution of Kalameh Sabaz, a newspaper owned by leading opposition candidate Mirhossein Moussavi, was blocked. It has not appeared at all since 13 June.A dozen journalists who are well-known throughout the country, including Ahmad Zeydabadi, Kivan Samimi Behbani and Shiva Nazar Ahari, were arrested the day after the results were announced, on 13 June. They were given long jail sentences and are still being held.The security services stationed themselves inside the newspapers, controlling articles and censoring content. Mehdi Karoubi, one of the opposition candidates, reported on 16 June: “I cannot even publish my press releases in my newspaper, Etemad Meli.” The newspaper was closed down on 17 August for publishing reports about cases of rape inside prisons. Before closing, it left columns blank where the censors had cut articles.Undermining communicationsAnother of the regime’s responses to the protests against its historic election theft was to weaken the communication networks. The authorities cut the SMS network and slowed down the Internet two days before the presidential election. They systematically cut the mobile phone networks in the centre of the main cities whenever protests were held in June and July. The speed of Internet connections was also reined in.The effectiveness of this procedure should not be overstated. It failed to prevent the marches and protests. During demonstrations, information about the date, hour and place of the next one was passed from person to person, as it was during the 1979 revolution.Street newspapers and leaflets survived and continued to play a mobilising role during the summer and part of the autumn of 2009. The Internet and especially the social-networking website Twitter, of which so much was said during the summer of 2009 about its use as an opposition communication tool, played a key role internationally. But only 2 per cent of Iranians were able to use Twitter.Pro-reform websites silencedThe authorities can block the Internet because they control the telecommunications infrastructure directly and Internet Service Providers indirectly. A dozen or so opposition websites were censored. They include Entekhab (http://www.entekhab.ir/), which has been inaccessible since 11 June, Ayandenews, Teribon, the reformist sites Khordadeno, Aftabnews and Ghalamesabz, Norooznews, which is the news website of the reformist (pro-Moussavi) Islamic Participation Party, and Ghalamsima, a site that supports the Moussavi campaign.The women’s rights website Change for Equality was blocked for the about the 20th time. YouTube and Facebook were hard to access. Gmail was inaccessible. Instant messaging could still be accessed using censorship circumvention tools (proxies).On the eve of the demonstration marking the Islamic Revolution’s 31st anniversary, on 9 February, Internet connections were again slowed right down in several cities, as they had been in advance of all the dates that were likely to have prompted opposition protests. Many websites such as Radio Zamaneh’s were attacked by the “Cyber-army,” a group of hackers who work for the Revolutionary Guards.War on imagesThe crackdown continued on two fronts – the censorship of photos and video and the expulsion of foreign reporters. While claiming that the president had won by a “landslide,” the regime tried to suppress all photos and video of the population’s spontaneous demonstrations, which had left it deeply shaken. Photographers were particularly targeted. Mehdi Zabouli, Tohid Bighi, Satyar Emami, Majid Saidi and many others were arrested between 26 June and 14 July. The priority was to hide the scale of the protests.The Revolutionary Guards went after foreign reporters, denying them access to the protest marches. Mohammad Sfar Harandi, the minister of culture and Islamic orientation, announced on 16 June that the foreign media were banned from “participating in or covering gatherings organised without the interior ministry’s permission.”The foreign reporters were confined to their hotel rooms or homes for several days and then deported one by one. Yolanda Alvarez, who had been sent to Tehran by the Spanish broadcaster RTVE, was expelled along with her entire crew on 15 June. Iason Athanasiadis, a journalist with Greek and British dual nationality who worked for various media including the Washington Times, a France 3 TV crew, Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari, the BBC’s well-known correspondent John Leyne and many others all followed.Propaganda and demonization of foreign mediaA propaganda campaign completed this phase. Foreign journalists were accused of being spies in the pay of the United States. The confessions of detainees were broadcast on national TV stations. The authorities responded virtually point by point to opposition claims about the use of violence to disperse protests. Interviewees contradicted accounts of the death of demonstrators, including that of the young student Taraneh Mousavi. The state television poured scorn on opposition eye-witness accounts.The Revolutionary Guards website showed photos of the demonstrations with close-ups of the participants, inviting Internet users to identify them. A Centre for the Surveillance of Crimes set up by the Revolutionary Guards issued a communiqué on 17 June instructing website editors to suppress “content encouraging the population to riot or to spread threats or rumours.”The communiqué said there had been “several cases of websites and personal blogs posting articles inciting disturbance of public order and inviting the population to rebel.” It added: “These sites, created with the help of US and Canadian companies, receive the support of media such as the BBC, Radio Farda (Free Europe) and Radio Zamaneh, which are protected by the US and British security services.”Imprisonment, bail and exileThe regime launched an offensive against print media in the middle of the summer, rounding up journalists. Many publications were closed, including Sarmayeh and Etemad. On 20 July, exactly one month after the election, Iran became the world’s biggest prison for journalists, with a total of 40 held.The journalists were given unfair trials, with no right of defence, sentenced to imprisonment and then put in cells with ordinary offenders who, were encouraged by the authorities to rough them up. The mistreatment sometime included severe beatings and even rape, regardless of whether the prisoners were men or women.Torture is systematic in Section 2A1 of Tehran’s Evin prison, which is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards and is exempt from any external supervision. And it is common in Section 2009, which is under the charge of the Ministry of Intelligence.To release detained journalists, the authorities demanded exorbitant bail amounts that forced families to borrow heavily. And they drew up blacklists of journalists that newspapers were forbidden to rehire, the posts left vacant being gradually filled by members of the Revolutionary Guards.Reports began to circulate in the autumn of 2009 about the use of violence by the security forces and Revolutionary Guards, about a toll of 60 dead during demonstrations and dozens imprisoned. Incidents during demonstrations, deaths and disappearances were recounted by relatives and friends. So a second crackdown was launched targeting journalists who dared to cover the repression and use of violence.***Writer Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of Iran’s Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, will be declared an honorary citizen of Paris at a ceremony at the City Hall on 10 June. Reporters Without Borders has joined the International Federation of Human Rights in appealing for the release of Iran’s prisoners of conscience.

Behnam Ibrahim, a labor activist and member of the Committee in Pursuit of Creating Free Labor Unions was arrested on June 12 in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison.According to reports, his family did not have any information on his whereabouts until he called his brother today from the Evin Prison infirmary and said that he was arrested on June 12 by security forces. He said that security forces brutally beat him upon his arrest and broke two of his rib bones and that he is now in poor physical health in prison

Mohammad Nouri Zad, a documentary maker and journalist is in critical condition in prison. He was transferred to cellblock 350 in Evin Prison from a few days ago. This cellblock lacks the normal standard conditions of prison.His wife has announced that in a visit with him yesterday he was not in good condition and repeatedly coughed.“He has come down with a lung infection and fever after being transferred from cellblock 209”, she said.“Unfortunately, his lung infection which started about 20 days ago has still not been treated which is why he repeatedly coughs and can barely talk”.His wife also said that he developed problems in his eyesight after he was attacked and beaten in prison

Iran News AgencyAccording to reports, the number of those (arrested during June 12 protests in Tehran) taken to Evin Prison who have been registered to receive cards and pictures is 1,300 people. These people were arrested on June 12 and were taken to the Intelligence Protection Agency. They were transferred to Evin Prison on June 13

Jannati a known hardliner has in today's Friday prayers asked for the death penalty to be commuted to those who flame w-veil restrictions

He quoted the Hijab as a Quranic concept, necessary for Islam and hence vital to be implemented in an Islamic society.

He concluded that since "They hang drug traffickers and kill terrorists and punish thieves” they should not stop at putting the death penalty for mal-veiled women

* Note from Daughters of Light:No where in the Quran does it give religious decrees to force the HijabWe believe that replacing the word "Islam" for "Our government" in Jannati's speech is more appropriate

Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi, leading members of a trade union which is not recognized by the authorities in Iran, have been arrested and are held at unknown locations. Their arrests may be connected to the anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election, which fell on 12 June. The two detained men are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Saeed Torabian, the Public Relations Officer for the Board of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested at his home on 9 June, by security officials who also confiscated his computer and mobile phone. Reza Shahabi, the Treasurer of the Union, was arrested on 12 June. When he arrived at work he was summoned to the headquarters of the Bus Company, where he was arrested by security officials. They took him to his house, which they searched, and confiscated his computer.Amnesty International believes that both men are very likely to be prisoners of conscience, held solely on account of their peaceful trade union activities and is concerned that they are held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance, which facilitates the use of torture or other ill-treatment.Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: 'Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests,' and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 8 of which guarantees the “right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice.”

The physical condition of Hengameh Shahidi, a member of the Etemad Meli Party, who is also a journalist and human rights activist, is deteriorating in Evin Prison.From the beginning of her arrest for the second time on February 25, 2010 she has been suffering from dizzy spells, double vision, tonsil infection and ear aches in cellblock 209. Now, after being transferred to the public cellblock her body has developed immunity to the antibiotics after 4 months and the negative side effects on her stomach has led to serious problems for her.She has not been able to eat the prison food for a week now and only drinks fluids and was treated with intravenous fluids yesterday in the prison infirmary.Doctors in Evin Prison recently diagnosed the severe pain in her muscles and bones as nervous rheumatism and said that she had to be placed under treatment and given physiotherapy. The facilities for this kind of treatment do not exist in prison. Her family and lawyer have submitted several requests for a medical leave for Hengameh but all these requests have been refused

The families of slain protesters were barred from mourning the death of their loved ones on the first anniversary of their deaths and they were not even given loudspeakers to use in the ceremony which is against normal procedures. Behesht Zahra Cemetery was extremely militarized yesterday.Ramin Ramezani and Sohrab Erabi were two slain protesters whose ceremonies were held under strict security measures in section 257 of Behesht Zahra Cemetery. Their families were threatened from a few days ago that they would be banned from holding a ceremony and according to reports, they were not even allowed to use rented loudspeakers for the ceremony.Participants in the ceremony were filmed by security forces and about 50 people were arrested after leaving the ceremony.

In the past few weeks, the inhumane torture, harassing and abuse of prisoners has continued in cellblock 1 in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj. These prisoners are under severe torture in solitary cells knows as the doghouse. They are kept in high temperatures without water for a long period of time and if they knock on their cell doors asking for water, they are shackled and blindfolded and taken to the torture cell where they are tortured. Torture with electric shockers is a common method used in this prison. Prisoners who were tortured in the past few days include Hassan Sharifi, Qeisar Ismaili, Javad Zare, Ahmad Fathian (security forces broke his nose in torture), Saman Mohammadi and a number of other prisoners

Sajad and Hamzeh Benam, two student activists in Shiraz were arrested on June 12, on the anniversary of protests in Iran by agents of the Shiraz Intelligence Agency.Sajad Benam is a computer engineering major at Shiraz University who was arrested after being summoned to the university Protection Department and was handed over to the Intelligence Agency. He was arrested once before on November 4, 2010.Hamzeh Benam, who studies at the Quran Science University, was arrested after being summoned by the Shiraz Intelligence Agency. This student activist was also arrested for 3 days last June.

According to reports, there is no news on the fate of most prisoners who were jailed on June 12 and their families are very concerned for their safety.A large number of people were arrested during the June 12 protests and were taken to unknown locations and there is no news on the condition of most of them. Among those arrested is Yazd University student Ahmad Shah Rezayi who was arrested near Tehran University after Bassij forces brutally attacked and beat him.On Monday June 14, agents of the Intelligence Agency stormed Rezayi’s home in Karaj and conducted a long search.Ahmad Shah Rezayi is a friend of Babak Saran (who was also arrested on June 12 and is in an unknown location) and interrogators of the Intelligence Agency have put pressure on the Rezayi family telling them that if they file a complaint against Babak Saran, their son would be released.This is a normal and common procedure used by the intelligence agency to create disputes among families and even inside political prisoners’ families.Rezayi has been taken to Evin Prison but his family does not have any information on his condition. He is at risk of torture by intelligence agents to make false confessions which will be used against him in court

“I have always wondered where Sohrab was killed and nobody has responded to my question yet. I want to know where Sohrab was killed.

Was he killed in prison? or was he killed in the streets?

Where was he during these days -especially during the four days where in the coroner’s document it specifies that his body was delivered on June 19th?

Where was he from June 15th to June 19th? Did they even attend to him? Or did they leave him to be alone? What did my son want? What did he say?

They haven’t even given his stuff back to me! They haven’t given back any of his belongings! One of my relatives had a dream that Sohrab was looking for his shoes. These things bother me.

Part 2

was very uneasy. I couldn’t settle down. I went back and forth to the identification department. As I waited there, I felt someone was hiding behind the wall. I figured it was Siyamak.

I went to him and asked, “Siyamak, what happened? I can sense something in your face!” Siyamak responded, “Mom, nothing happened, don’t worry.”

I said, “There is something in your face, I can see it. Tell me what happened to Sohrab.” He replied, “Mom, they killed Sohrab”

[crying]

They killed Sohrab. I don’t know where they killed him. They said I needed to come identify the body. I couldn’t walk and I couldn’t breathe. I was only screaming. I was damning all of them. I kept saying that I hope the same happens to their young ones. I hope the same happens to your loved ones so you know how it feels.

When I sat behind the computer, they showed me pictures of Sohrab.

[crying]

They didn’t even show me the dark spots on his body. I said, “That’s my Sohrab…this is my Sohrab…that’s him…” I jumped up and down and swore at them. I was uneasy.

[sigh]

They took me back home. My heart was jumping out of my body. Whenever I remember those moments, I wish I could die. This will never leave my life. I just want them to identify the murderer.

I want to ask him how he could shoot at my son and other kids? How could they have the heart to kill such a beautiful youngster? And they are still killing them. Aren’t they tired of killing people? Are they still thirsty for blood? Are they really still thirsty? An Iranian who kills another Iranian? Why?

When there was a war going on (against Iraq), the youngsters had guns and they went and fought a common enemy! Our youngsters here had no weapons and they didn’t want to fight. All they wanted to know was what happened to their votes. They were only expressing their opinions and nothing else! They weren’t doing anything illegal. But they killed our youngsters: Sohrab, Neda, Ashkan, Kianoush, Kamrani, Amir Javadi, Hashemzadeh, and many more.

They killed many youngsters. When do they want to respond to these? How are they going to respond?

Naeem Ahmadi Khiavee, a student activist from Azerbaijan province in Northwest of Iran, was arrested by Intelligence Agents of Tabriz in Shahnaz Districs on June 13, 2010.According to Savalan Sesi website, Ahmadi was arrested during a visit to his friend’s residence. He was reportedly beaten by the Intelligence Agents along with a number of other students who were present at the location.The Judiciary and Intelligence authorities of Tabris have denied their involvement in Ahmadi’s arrest. So far no information has been provided to his family about his status and whereabouts.Ahmadi, a student of Geology in Tabriz University, is also a member of the Central Council of Literary Association of Sahand and the Director of the Islamic Association in the Faculty of Natural Sciences. He was previously summoned by the Disciplinary Committee of Tabriz University.Translation by: Siavash S. Persian2English.com

(Reuters) - Iran's post-election protests one year ago posed a bigger threat to the Islamic Republic than the devastating 1980s war with Iraq, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Thursday.Iranian authorities are preparing for a potential revival of the unrest on Saturday -- the anniversary of the election -- when opposition leaders have asked for permission to hold peaceful commemorations.In comments that underline a continued refusal to brook any dissent, the Revolutionary Guards' commander said the protest movement had been a worse threat to the regime than the invasion by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1980 and the ensuing eight-year war."Although last year's sedition did not last more than around eight months, it was much more dangerous than the imposed war which Saddam began against us through the support of the international community," Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying in Iranian media."Because of the grace of God and the prophet-like guidance of the supreme leader and people's vigilance, we put this bitter incident behind us and the enemies found out the revolution cannot be diverted through these methods," he said.

The Revolutionary Guards were instrumental in quashing last year's protests which the hardline government of re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said was "sedition" stirred up by foreign powers seeking regime change.The Guards are fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who said last Friday that any Iranians who backed the "disgraceful events of the past months" cannot be true followers of the Islamic Republic's founder Ruhollah Khomeini.Millions of people took to the streets to protest the poll result -- which many believed was rigged -- and to show support for the defeated moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi. Protests were suppressed by violent crackdowns, detentions and even executions.The post-election turmoil in the world's fifth largest oil exporter -- the worst since the 1979 revolution -- exposed deep divisions in the political and clerical elite, with hardliners scrambling to curb demands for a more democratic system.

GEOFFREY ROBERTSONThe anniversary at the weekend of Iran's rigged election turned the spotlight on the man who approved it - the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei - and the man who was cheated of the presidency, Mir Hossein Mousavi.If there was justice in the world, both men would be still be serving prison sentences, along with Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a number of the nation's top judges and politicians. All were complicit in one of the gravest crimes against humanity since World War II, the mass slaughter of political prisoners at the close of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988.Then, Mousavi was prime minister, Khamenei was president and Rafsanjani commanded the Revolutionary Guards. They implemented a secret fatwa which ordered the mass murder of left-wingers in prisons nationwide.The victims were mainly student protesters who had been arrested and sentenced for leafleting and demonstrating against Khamenei's revolutionary republic in the early 1980s. They sympathised with the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, an armed Islamic group with Marxist leanings, or with communist and socialist organisations that did not believe in God and certainly not in the ayatollah's theocracy.As the war with Iraq ended in 1988, the regime decided it was too dangerous to let these dissidents live, so its leaders plotted a 'final solution'. On July 28, a week after the ceasefire, the secret fatwa was issued, at first decreeing death for all who remained 'steadfast' in their Mujahideen sympathies.They were hauled from their cells and were paraded before a death committee - a religious judge, a prosecutor, and a man from the Intelligence Ministry - and hung from cranes, four at a time, or in groups of six from ropes hanging from the stage of the prison assembly hall. Their bodies were buried by night in mass graves, the locations of which are still withheld from their families. Between July 28 and August 13, several thousand Mujahideen-e-Khalq members were killed in this manner.After a short break for a religious holiday, the death committee began to kill the left-wingers. All prisoners who were Marxists, communists and members of other political groups and had been born Muslim but who did not believe in the official version of Islam, were deemed apostate. If male, they were sent straight to the gallows after a brief trial with no notice or right of defence. Women were sentenced to torture (severe whipping five times a day) until they repented and prayed or died from the lash.The second wave of killings also claimed several thousand victims and was accompanied by the same secrecy. Eventually, several months later, relatives were called to the prison and handed a plastic bag with their children's effects. By October many thousands of prisoners had been killed without trial, appeal or mercy.When word of the mass murder began to leak out, Iran's diplomats and politicians began a cover-up. They pretended the victims were few and were planning to take over the prisons by violence. Mousavi played a particularly shameful part, urging 'Western intellectuals' to see him as an Allende-like victim, who had acted in time against encircling enemies. His election meetings last year were interrupted by shouts to explain his role in 1988; he has never come clean about his part in this international crime.Nor, of course, have the other perpetrators. Most notably the present Supreme Leader, Khamenei, who passed it off at the time with a brutal remark: 'Do you think we should give them sweets?'. Rafsanjani, still politically active, played an important part: he dispatched the Revolutionary Guards to carry out the slaughter.The death committee members remain in senior positions in the judiciary and several are government ministers. They cannot hide behind a defence of ''superior orders'' - not even a fatwa can protect them from legal responsibility for an international crime. (I exclude the President, Mahmoud Ahamdinejad: although he was a Revolutionary Guard and one witness claims to identify him as a torturer, this has not been corroborated.) Khamenei, as head of state, has some immunity but, as Charles Taylor discovered, this does not fully protect sitting heads of state from indictment for international crimes.For the past year, I have conducted an inquiry into the 1988 massacres for a Washington foundation and my report sets out the evidence justifying the international law indictment of a number of Iranian leaders. Those who conducted the prison massacres in 1988 are not only guilty of directing torture and murder but of implementing a plan to exterminate a group on the basis of its religious belief (the Mujahideen prisoners who believed in a different form of Islam) or, in the case of the Marxists, its non-belief.That amounts to genocide and there is an international obligation on all nations under the Genocide Convention to bring them to book.The men who implemented the fatwa did so knowing they were committing an international crime. They were well versed in the Geneva Conventions because they were always complaining about Saddam Hussein's breaches. By refusing to explain the fate or identify the burial places of the victims, Iran's present leaders perpetuate the crime.The Security Council would be entitled to use its power to set up an ad hoc international court to indict the Supreme Leader and others in his government. This may be a better way to deal with a theocracy whose inability to punish, or even admit, the barbaric behaviour of 1988 provides the greatest reason for concern over its future access to nuclear weaponry

Two students were arrested after a call for a peaceful protest by a pro-democracy student association in the Razi Kermanshah University.The Protection Department of this university summoned four students and handed over two of them to the Kermanshah Intelligence Agency.Aptin Pegah, a physics student and Babak Ghiasi who majors in agricultural engineering were arrested yesterday and there is no information on their condition and whereabouts

The prosecutor of Tehran has cut off all in person visits of political prisoners in Evin Prison for an unlimited time period.According to this order, from now on, the families of political prisoners are only allowed to visit their loved ones in prison from behind a glass partition, meaning they can talk to them via a telephone.Ordinary prisoners are allowed in person visits once a month but this right has been taken away from political prisoners.Families can only have in person visits with a special order from the prosecutor.The children, sisters and brothers of prisoners will be banned from in person visits even if their families have obtained the right of in person visits from the prosecutor.According to reports, these limitations have been put in place to prevent prisoners from giving out messages or notes to sources outside of prison

According to reports, agents of the Intelligence Agency stormed the home of slain political prisoner Amir-Hossein Heshmat Saran, conducted a search and interrogated and threatened his family.On Monday, June 14, at about 12 pm, six intelligence agents stormed the home of Saran. They checked this family’s phone book and asked questions about the names of the people in the book.These agents also asked Elahe Nazju (Amir-Hossein Heshmat Saran’s wife) about the whereabouts of her son Babak. This is while Babak Saran was arrested on Saturday in Tehran by security forces and taken to an unknown location. There has been no news on him since his arrest.These agents tried to put mental pressure on this family and told Elahe Nazju, Babak’s mother that, “A person who is against the revolution deserves all this”

The physical condition of Ali-Akbar Baghani, the Secretary General of the Iran Teacher Center, is unsuitable in prison and prison officials have deprived him of treatment.Baghani is in poor condition because of the deterioration of his prostate illness but prison officials refuse to allow him to receive the necessary medication.This retired teacher was under medication before his arrest.Ali-Akbar Baghani was arrested on the morning of April 28 after security forces stormed his home and was taken to prison.

The head of the state security in Sarab said, “A person (Mehdi H.) who shot and killed his landlord and injured three of his family members in the town of Sarab was hanged in public”…“He was hanged in the Chamran Square in this town”.

Jun. 17 – The following is the full text of an agreement announced by European Union leaders on Thursday tightening sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program. The text was included in the annex to the EU Council’s conclusions at the end of a leaders’ summit in Brussels.

Begins:

DECLARATION ON IRAN

1. The European Council underlines its deepening concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and welcomes the adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution 1929 introducing new restrictive measures against Iran.

2. The European Council welcomes the recent efforts by Brazil and Turkey to secure progress on the Tehran Research Reactor agreement proposed to Iran by the IAEA in October 2009. A satisfactory agreement with Iran on the TRR could serve as a confidence-building measure. However, the European Council stresses that it would not address the core of Iran’s nuclear issue. The European Council urges Iran to engage in negotiations on its nuclear programme.

3. The European Council reaffirms the rights and responsibilities of Iran under the NPT. The European Council deeply regrets that Iran has not taken the many opportunities which have been offered to it to remove the concerns of the international community over the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme. The decision by Iran to enrich uranium to the level of 20 percent, contrary to its international obligations under existing UNSC and IAEA Board of Governors Resolutions, has further increased these concerns. In this regard, the European Council notes the last report of the IAEA of 31 May.

4. Under these circumstances, new restrictive measures have become inevitable. The European Council, recalling its declaration of 11 December 2009 and in the light of the work undertaken by the Foreign Affairs Council thereafter, invites the Foreign Affairs Council to adopt at its next session measures implementing those contained in the UN Security Council Resolution 1929 as well as accompanying measures, with a view to supporting the resolution of all outstanding concerns regarding Iran’s development of sensitive technologies in support of its nuclear and missile programmes, through negotiation. These should focus on the areas of trade, especially dual use goods and further restrictions on trade insurance; the financial sector, including freeze of additional Iranian banks and restrictions on banking and insurance; the Iranian transport sector, in particular the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) and its subsidiaries and air cargo; key sectors of the gas and oil industry with prohibition of new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies, equipment and services related to these areas, in particular related to refining, liquefaction and LNG technology; and new visa bans and asset freezes especially on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

5. The European Council confirms once again the commitment of the European Union to work for a diplomatic solution of the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme. The European Council calls on Iran to demonstrate willingness to build the confidence of the international community and to respond to the invitation for resumption of negotiations, and reaffirms the validity of the June 2008 proposals made to Iran.

6. What is needed is a serious negotiation about Iran’s nuclear programme and other issues of mutual concern. The European Council underlines that the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is ready to resume talks in this regard.

By NIR BOMS AND SHAYAN ARYA This past Saturday marked the first anniversary of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent reelection, which sparked Iran's Green Movement and its demands for accountability, democracy and human rights. The regime's response was one of naked aggression. Opposition activists were murdered on the streets or sentenced to death in kangaroo courts. Thousands were arrested and brutally beaten. Just over a month ago, on May 9, five political prisoners, including female activist Shirin Alam Holi, were executed in secret. Not even their families or lawyers were notified beforehand. At least 25 other men and women await the same fate.

Female activists, who are growing in numbers, emerged as the new arch enemy of the ayatollahs. After all, as we recently learned from Iranian cleric Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, women cause widespread death and destruction.

"Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes," Mr. Sediqi, one of the main Friday prayer leaders in Tehran, told viewers in his televised sermon in April. In a country where tens of thousands have died in earthquakes, blaming women for these sort of natural catastrophes is a particularly vicious attempt at demonization. Only if Iranians take "refuge in religion" and adapt their lives to "Islam's moral codes" can they apparently stop the earth from trembling, Mr. Sediqi concluded. In the minds of the Islamic regime, stronger moral codes are more important than stronger building codes, since apparently, the righteous won't be smitten in an earthquake.

The world, although stunned, treated the remark mostly as a joke. Tens of thousands joined the "Boobquake" campaign, which quickly became a sensation on Facebook and Twitter. Nearly a quarter million women volunteered to show a little more cleavage than usual to test Mr. Sediqi's claim. Luckily, no earthquakes were reported in participating cities.

Iran's leaders, however, are deadly serious. "We cannot invent a system that prevents earthquakes, but God has created this system and that is to avoid sins, to pray, to seek forgiveness, pay alms and self-sacrifice," said Sadeg Mahsooli, minister of welfare and social security. Other officials and Friday prayer leaders made similar remarks. Even Parliamentarian Ali Motahari, otherwise a strong critic of Ahmadinejad, said that "if we let go of our standards in regards to the veil, we won't be able to control it (earthquakes) and things will get out of hand."

While the international community was laughing about Iran's absurd earthquake theories, it turns out the joke was on them. Only a few days after the regime's misogynist statements, Iran won a seat on the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women. Not a single member state—including the United States, Canada, Australia and 10 European countries—objected to Iran's promotion. It is a particularly disturbing development in light of the Islamic regime's brutality against women, which includes stoning adulterers on the flimsiest of evidence.

Under the late Shah, beside the obvious right of choosing their own cloths, Iranian women had equal rights to vote, get an education, and a career. They also benefited from laws protecting their rights. Women couldn't be married before the age of 18, could divorce their husbands, and could win custody of their children. Iran before the revolution had nearly 100 female judges, one of whom was Shirin Ebadi, who later won the Nobel Peace prize.

Immediately after the revolution, the newly established theocracy moved to repeal these laws. Women were banned from certain occupations and Ms. Ebadi and her female colleagues lost their jobs. Marrying-age for girls was now reduced to nine in accordance with Sharia law. Only after years of protests from Iranian women's-rights activists and international organizations, was it raised to 13. Polygamy is now permitted and in fact encouraged by the government. Women have also lost their right to divorce their husbands.

This is the Islamic regime's legacy that will be brought to the corridors of the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women. Now, the likes of Sediqi will help set policy on gender equality and women's rights around the globe. In order to justify their track record at home they will do their outmost to impose similar restrictions on women worldwide or, at least, strive for loopholes and exceptions to U.N. rules for Muslim countries.

More than 200 Iranian women activists had warned in an open letter that the Islamic Republic's membership would be a "serious threat" to the goals and mission of the U.N. commission. But their voices—to the U.N's eternal shame—were ignored.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy GeithnerWASHINGTON — The Obama administration, seeking to build on the momentum of the Iran resolution passed last week by the United Nations, announced Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on more than a dozen Iranian companies and individuals with links to the country’s nuclear and missile programs.

The list includes two top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has control over Iran’s nuclear program and is expanding its grip on the nation’s economy.

It also includes a major Iranian bank and five front companies for the Iranian state shipping line, as well as 71 ships with names that had been changed to skirt previous sanctions.

“Iran will never cease looking for ways to evade our sanctions,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in announcing the measures at the White House. “So our effort must be ongoing and unrelenting. And we will keep working on ways to intensify financial pressure on Iran.”

Administration officials said they hoped the steps would be the first of a new round of sanctions against Iran by the European Union, Australia and other countries.

On Thursday, European leaders are expected to endorse their own unilateral measures, while Congress is drafting legislation that would go much further than the United Nations sanctions.

But the Treasury Department’s sanctions lay bare the loopholes that continue to plague efforts to isolate Iran commercially: many of the companies on the list acted as fronts for entities already the subject of previous sanctions. Others have ties to entities that were already sanctioned.

Moreover, a senior administration official acknowledged that the United States would have had the authority to designate all these companies on its own without the passage of the latest United Nations resolution. The sanctions require that the companies’ assets under American jurisdiction be frozen.

The administration’s move came hours after a defiant speech by Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said the West deserved to be punished for its action against Tehran and laid out ambitious plans to increase uranium enrichment and build four new atomic research facilities.

Iran justified the need to expand enrichment to supply fuel for a research reactor that produces radioactive isotopes. It plans to build the research complexes in four corners of the country and said that one of them would be “more powerful” than the American-built research reactor in Tehran, which has been the subject of intense negotiations among Iran, Western nations, Brazil and Turkey.

“You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise, and again resorted to devilish manners,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said, addressing the countries that voted to pass the resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

“You have behaved badly,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said, “but we have terms which will punish you and make you sit at the negotiating table like a polite child.”

He also said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state television, that Iran would announce new conditions for talks, suggesting that he was open to dialogue in the wake of the Security Council vote.

The administration met these mixed signals with sanctions that aimed to show how Iran used its banks and shipping industry to aid its nuclear program.

The United States designated Post Bank of Iran, which American officials said handled foreign transactions for Bank Sepah after it was penalized in 2007 for providing financing to Iran’s missile industry.

Also named were five companies — two based in Hong Kong — that are affiliated with, or owned by, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. Iran has evaded previous sanctions by renaming, repainting and reflagging its ships.

It also has changed the ownership of the vessels, officials said.

The administration kept its focus on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, designating the corps’ air force and missile command, which it says have links to Iran’s ballistic missile program. And it named two top commanders: Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander in chief of the corps since late 2007, and Mohammad Reza Naqdi, who has served as head of the Basij Resistance Force since October 2009 and was notorious earlier for suppressing protests at Iranian universities.

Basij paramilitaries led the government’s bloody crackdown on antigovernment protests after the disputed presidential election last June, though that is not the main reason that Mr. Naqdi was sanctioned.

As a former deputy chief of staff of the armed forces general staff, he was involved in efforts to evade previous sanctions, according to the United Nations.

The Treasury Department also identified 22 companies in the Iranian insurance, petroleum and petrochemical industries that it said were owned by the Iranian government.

American citizens are barred from doing business with such companies; the designations are also devised as a warning to foreign companies with business dealings in Iran, officials said.

Some critics said the sanctions, particularly those against well-established figures like Mr. Jafari, showed how hard it was for the United States to keep up with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The Revolutionary Guards “is morphing, and expanding, and drifting into every part of the Iranian private sector every day,” said Danielle Pletka, a vice president and an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute. “We have a handful of people in Treasury who do this, and we’re not keeping up.”

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed tighter sanctions against Iran on Thursday, including measures to block investment in the oil and gas sector and curtail refining and natural gas capability.

The measures go substantially beyond the sanctions the United Nations agreed on June 10 and are designed to pressure Tehran to return to talks over an uranium enrichment programme Western powers believe is designed to produce nuclear weapons.

The steps, which could come into force within weeks, will focus on trade, including dual-use items, banking and insurance, Iran's transport sector, including shipping and air cargo, and key sectors of the gas and oil industry.

The energy sector sanctions will prohibit "new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies, equipment and services related to these areas, in particular related to refining, liquefaction and Liquefied Natural Gas technology," the heads of state and government said in their conclusions.

The measures go beyond what some diplomats had foreseen and are likely to put strong financial pressure on Iran, which is the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter but has little refining capability.

"The European Council deeply regrets that Iran has not taken the many opportunities which have been offered to it to remove the concerns of the international community over the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme," the EU leaders said.

"Under these circumstances, new restrictive measures have become inevitable."

Diplomats said some EU states, notably Germany, which has large investments in Iran's oil and gas sector, had concerns about strengthening the sanctions, but in the event all EU member states moved quickly behind a strongly worded statement.

Iran denies its nuclear programme is aimed at producing weapons, saying it is for energy and other peaceful purposes.

The EU steps coincide with efforts by the U.S. Congress to draw up its own set of additional measures against Iran designed to add bite to last week's U.N. sanctions package, parts of which were watered down by Russian and Chinese opposition.

The political impact of the U.N. steps was also undermined by Turkish and Brazilian votes against the package.

Russia criticised the EU for planning sanctions on top of the U.N. measures.

"We are extremely disappointed that neither the United States nor the European Union is heeding our calls to refrain from such steps," Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.

The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday blacklisted another state-controlled Iranian bank and targeted companies that is says are fronts for Iran's state shipping company IRISL as it looked to coordinate the tighter sanctions net with the EU.

It also took separate steps to squeeze Iran's energy sector by identifying 20 petroleum and petrochemical companies as being under Iranian government control -- which puts them off limits to U.S. businesses under a general trade embargo.

The images of Neda Agha Soltan's death on the streets of Tehran transformed her into an icon for Iran's opposition movement.

But very few know of Ramin Ramezani, who was killed five days before Neda during last year's post-election demonstrations in the Iranian capital."I always say Neda is the miracle of the century," Ramin's mother Zahra Ramezani told CNN by phone. "Neda was destined to be known to everyone. If Ramin isn't known to everyone, that's OK."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide re-election on June 12, 2009, had sparked the biggest protests in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

The following Monday, hundreds of thousands marched to Tehran's Azadi square, calling the vote a sham. Ramin was among the crowd. Watch YouTube video of the chaos that day

Ramin was on leave from military duty, back in Tehran to celebrate his 22nd birthday, just six days away. His parents told CNN that he had voted for Mir Hossein Moussavi, the opposition candidate who had energized young Iranians with promises of a freer society, more rights for women, and better relations with the West.Ramin, pictured in the center of this undated family photo, was one of the first demonstrators killed during the June 2009 protests.Ramin, pictured in the center of this undated family photo, was one of the first demonstrators killed during the June 2009 protests.

Around 6 p.m. that day, Ramin called his parents and told them not to worry, they said. He said he'd be home later that evening.

An hour later, just blocks away from Azadi square, violence erupted at a base for the Basij, Iran's pro-government militia. Protesters surrounded the building, shattered its windows with rocks, and set fire to several rooms.

Amateur video from the scene showed several armed members of the Basij on the rooftop apparently firing shots.

It was here, Ramin's parents said, that their son was killed. A single bullet entered the right side of his chest, tore through both his lungs and killed him within minutes, his parents said.

There was no way to know who fired the shot. It is widely believed that Ramin and several others who were killed on June 15 were the first casualties of the opposition movement's protests.

When Ramin didn't show up at home, the Ramezanis stayed up all night trying to reach him. Zahra Ramezani said she called Ramin's cell phone every hour but no one answered.As soon as he said 'remains' there was chaos in our home.--Zahra Ramezani, mother of slain protester

The following day they received a brief call from a man who did not identify himself.

"He said, 'If you want your son's remains,' and as soon as he said 'remains' there was chaos in our home," said Zahra Ramezani. "We were all hitting ourselves, screaming and shouting."

For Ramin's parents the nightmare was just beginning. Over the course of a week, they said they searched for Ramin's remains in five hospitals. They pleaded with officials at two courthouses and the interior ministry to help them find their son's body. Authorities said they would investigate.

Finally, at a prison morgue, a prison official showed Ramin's father the picture of his son's remains on a computer screen.

"For about one hour I lost myself," Mehdi Ramezani said. "I was hitting myself in the face and the head, asking, 'Why is my son's naked remains on this monitor?'"

Mehdi Ramezani said an official at the prison morgue warned him to keep quiet about his son's death.

"They made me promise them not to cause a big commotion during his funeral," Mehdi Ramezani said. "They said it wouldn't be good for your future and the future of your children."

Calls to Iran's judiciary and security officials seeking comment were not returned.A passport image of Ramin Ramezani, whose parents say they just want his killers to be punished.A passport image of Ramin Ramezani, whose parents say they just want his killers to be punished.

Until now, Zahra and Mehdi Ramezani have never spoken to the international media. But after keeping silent for more than nine months, they still don't know any more about how their son died.

Human rights groups say around 80 people were killed during Iran's 2009 post-election protests, while Iran's government puts the number at about half of that. While Iran has charged prison officials with torturing to death some of those detained after the demonstrations, no one has been charged in any of the deaths during the protests.

Authorities in Iran have told CNN they are investigating the deaths, but the Ramezanis say they are losing hope.

Every Friday morning the Ramezanis visit Tehran's main cemetery where their son's gravesite sits just steps away from Neda Agha Soltan's. Ramin's parents say they don't want the attention Neda is getting. All they want is someone to tell them who killed these two young Iranians and why.

"A good and ideal government is for everyone, even those who oppose it," said Zahra Ramezani. "If they consider themselves servants of Iran, then they owe us something."

Hessam Firoozi , human right activist has been released on bail of 100 million tomans after 170 days of imprisonment.His immense loss of weight in prison has been the result of pressure on torture set on him during his prison period.

Target:Suspend the death sentence of Mohammad Reza HaddadiSponsored by:Andreas Albrecht

Mohammad Reza Haddadi is imprisoned in the Adelabad prison in Shiraz, Iran.

He was sentenced to death by a court in Kazeroun on January 6th, 2004, for a murder committed at the age of 15, even though he withdrew his confession during the trial and even though the co-defendants had exonerated him.

THE PETITION HERE sponsored in the care2 social site is as follows :

I hereby ask you to suspend the death sentence against Mohammad Reza Haddadi because he was under age at the time of the crime and because he is said to have only confessed the murder because his family was promised financial aid. In addition, there are significant doubts as to his guilt because he has withdrawn his confession and because the co-defendantshave withdrawn their incriminating statements against him during the trial. In the above claim, I am referring to the obligation of the Iranian authorities in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights according to which death sentence is not to be imposed for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18 years.A similar demand is also included in the recommendation of the Committee of the United Nations for Children FFFDs Rights in which Iran was asked, in 2005, to suspend all death sentences on persons under age

A hunger strike was held by students at the University of Kurdistan on June 15, 2010 to protest against death sentences for 16 Kurdish political activists. The protest was also held to recognize the fortieth day death ceremony of Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Hooli, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, and Mehdi Eslamian who were illegally executed by the Iranian regime on May 9, 2010.

Sang beautifully, she expresses her support through a symbolic song once sang by "United Federation of Students" out of Iran in support of the armed struggle at the time of the Shah. Today this song represents thousands who chose to stand for Freedom, among many other tunes that still echo their voices

Akireza an accountant student of Esfahan University, was arrested in winter of 2007 in Shahin Shahr -Esfahan.On February 12, 2009, Mr. Davoudi was detained by Intelligence agents in his residence in the city of Shahin Shahr in Esfahan, and he was released on a 100,000 USD bail bond on April 26. During Mr. Davoudi’s incarceration, he was subjected to psychological pressures by Intelligence investigators mainly hung upside daoen for long persiods of time. After his bail, Mr. Davoudi was hospitalized with severe conditions, and he died on Monday, July 27. He was one of the active students who went on hunger strike in 2006, DEMANDING BASIC RIGHTS: such as freedom of thoughts , freedom of government staged institutions in the Univerisity which are to suppress any dissident voice, freedom of some of the students from prison.